Part 11 (2/2)
”I had ht,” said Katherine, flushi+ng a little, and not feeling quite certain whether she entirely approved of having matters taken out of her hands in this fashi+on
”That would not do at all You will have to be business head of the establishet your shoulders fitted to the burden the better,” he said decidedly
”But I have practically been the business head all the winter, so the burden is fa at her heart, for she did not like business, and always shrank fro, which afforded such keen zest to so
”That was quite different from what lies before you now,” he replied ”You may have had the work to do, but you had always your father's judgment to rely upon In future you will have to stand alone and judge for yourself”
Katherine bowed her head in token that she understood, then turned away too crushed to utter a word Jervis Ferrars went back to the sickroo at the pain he had been compelled to inflict as if the blow had fallen on himself There were no tears in Katherine's eyes, only the terrible black misery in her heart She had filled in all the blanks in what, the Englishman had said, and she understood perfectly well that henceforth her father would be only as a child who needed guarding and shi+elding, instead of a ment could be relied upon She had no deception in herould be required of her; the fa must depend on her in the future, and it would rest upon her skill and industry whether the living she earned were merely subsistence, or the decent co !” she exclaiy hich she spoke seee
It had been a e and endurance, and the deth had left her so tired that the other hard days loo in the near distance seemed all the more terrible because of the present exhaustion of body andup the store, but it ilight still, for in those northern latitudes the afterglow on clear nights lasts for hours Katherine was busy at her father's desk in the corner doing the necessary writing which comes to every storekeeper at the close of the day, and she was just wondering when Miles was co to lock the door and fold the shutter over the one slancing up, saw Oily Dave entering at the door He looked more shi+fty and slippery than usual, but his manner was bland, even deferential, when he spoke
”Good evening, Miss Radford! Nice thaw, ain't it? but a bit rapid
How's 'Dook?”
Katherine winced Of course every e and Seal Cove called every other man by his Christian na ”'Duke”, but nevertheless it grated horribly, so her hty than usual when she announced that her father was not so well, although she did not choose to inform this man that he was very ill
”Well, well, poor chap, he don't seeht lucky for his He is a sht better off than I should have been under the circumstances;” and Oily Dave struck an attitude of respectful ad at Katherine froht?” she asked coldly
”A goodbut a mouthful of biscuit all day But I shall have to wait for that till I get back to Seal Cove, and then I shall have to cook it ood about a house,” said Oily Dave, with a shake of his head
Katherine put her hand to her throat with a quick hter She and Mrs Burton had bothhandiness displayed by Jervis Ferrars He had made the bed for the stricken head of the house as deftly as a woht have done, and had helped in the kitchen at supper tiularly for the last two or three years; but of this she was not disposed to speak, and waited in silence for Oily Dave to state his requireot any?”
”We have plenty of two-pound tins, but we are sold out of the smaller ones,” she answered, then made a mental note that in future she would buy all small tins, because they sold so much more easily
”That's a nuisance, but I suppose I'll have to put up with it,” he said, with a sigh and another shake of his head ”Fact is, I want to take hoer don't take to simple food such as we are used to in these parts It is a downright swell tuck-in he looks to get, saht expect to have in one of the Montreal hotels”
Again Katherine wanted to laugh, but checked the impulse resolutely, and asked: ”Is the flood at Seal Cove as bad as ever, or has the barrier given way at the mouth of the river?”
”I didn't know there was a flood!” announced Oily Dave, with an air of innocence which sat aardly upon him, it was so palpably put on for the occasion ”Fact is, I've been off all day on the cliffs along the bay shore, looking for signs of walrus and seal on the ice floes Then when it got near sunset I just struck inland, so as to call here on my way home Who told you there was a flood?”
”I saw it,” she answered quietly
”I hope ht,” said the old hypocrite, with an air of concern ”That house of mine ain't well situated for floods, as ot the time and the money I'd move it up beside Stee Jenkin's hut, which is really in a bootiful situation”
”I wonder you have not done it before,” said Katherine, as she went up the steps and fetched the tin of toood et left undone for want of time and money!” remarked Oily Dave ”But I' that languid swell of a Mr Ferrars here to boss the fishi+ng A reg'lar drawing-room party he is and no mistake Gives hitime, and seems to think all the rest of the world was created on purpose to black his boots”
”We don't sell rease their boots with fish oil,” Katherine said, laughing in spite of herself, only now her amusement was because she knew Jervis Ferrars to be in her father's room, where he could hear every hich was spoken in the store
”Best thing, too There is nothing like grease for h I'e the walk is h which this ti in sincerity